A celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Simone Weil has taken place in Ashford. The French philosopher and social activist spent the last days of her life in the town and is buried in Bybrook Cemetery.

Weil was a French social philosopher, activist in the French Resistance during World War II and whose writings have had a significant influence on French and English philosophical and social thought.

On Friday, the Mayor of Ashford Cllr John Holland planted a Ginkgo biloba (regarded by Buddhists as an extremely spiritual tree) and dedicated a plaque in North Park, near to the Civic Centre in Tannery Lane. Later in the day, David McClellan, author of her biography ‘Utopian Pessimist’, gave a short talk opening a display of her works in Ashford Library.

Born in 1909, Weil displayed a keen intellect and social awareness from an early age, quoting the poet Jean Racine and refusing to eat sugar in support of fighting French soldiers before her 6th birthday. In 1936 she trained for action in the Spanish Civil War as a journalist but was badly burnt in an accident and never saw action. Faced with German invasion during the Second World War, she escaped with her parents to the United States in 1942 before moving to London to work with the French Resistance. She collapsed from malnutrition and overwork in 1943 and while in hospital was found to have tuberculosis.

She spent the final days of her life in Ashford, dying in August 1943 at the age of 34 and was buried in the town's Bybrook Cemetery.

Later this month artist Dino Alfier marks the centenary with a video installation in the main foyer at Eurostar’s Ashford International Station entitled Attending: A Celebration of Simone Weil’s Thought. The exhibition runs from 27th November to 11th December.